Hold Me Close
by ambrosesaysnope
Summary: Sami finds a way to calm his girlfriend down during a thunderstorm. oneshot.


Disclaimer: I own Shana.

A/N: A cute fluffy Sami one shot. Enjoy!

* * *

The last time they had seen each other was for Raw last Monday night. After that they were each scheduled for different events. Their phone calls and texting conversations lasted longer than normal. It wasn't doing it for either of them anymore. He could hardly wait until he got home and could finally see her with his own eyes.

By the time Sami had gotten out of the airport it had started to rain. Traffic was slow and it was making him even more anxious. He saw a few sparks of lightening, making him want to hurry home. Sami huffed in annoyance, trying to keep from slamming into the car in front of him. How difficult was it to drive in the rain? Its not like an awful downpour had hit yet!

Finally, after an agonizingly slow ride home, Sami parked in front of the building. He grabbed his things from the backseat of the car and hurried inside.

"Babe! I'm home!" He called from the front door.

A quick look around the hallway told him she was home. Her bags were placed to the left of the door. He followed suit and left his things there as well. He took his jacket off and hung it on the coatrack.

"Shana?" Sami called, poking his head into the living room.

A clap of thunder made him cringe. He knew for a fact that she was hiding somewhere in the house, trying to keep herself together during the storm.

"Shana!" He called again, now looking in the kitchen. "Where are you?"

He had to laugh to himself, she had the lights on all over the house. It was like she needed something to remind her that there was brightness everywhere, even when it was gloomy outside.

Shana sat on the floor by the bed, her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her head was nestled on the tops of her knees, with her eyes closed tight. Thunderstorms always terrified her and sent her anxiety screaming.

She could hear Sami calling for her, but she couldn't bring herself to greet him. The thunder seemed to be booming louder than normal. Call her crazy, but she was sure she could feel the walls of the building shaking and thought they would come tumbling down in no time.

"There you are!" Sami cried out.

She lifted her head up in time to see Sami standing in the doorway of their bedroom. Shana remained in place, stupidly smiling through her tears. She couldn't even begin to express how happy she was to see him. Now she wouldn't have to suffer through this alone. Just the thought of being in his arms after a week apart was enough to make her feel better.

The sight of her was enough for Sami to rush into the room and plop down on the floor next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. He gave her quick kiss on the temple, quickly trying to calm her down.

"Hi, honey." She choked out.

Another clap of thunder hit, making Shana jump.

"Its all right, honey." Sami soothed. "I'm here now. You won't be alone. Its going to be fine."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth did the power go out. They stared at each other for a moment, letting silence engulf them. They could hear the wind howling and rain pounding against the windows.

"Big deal if the lights are out." Sami shrugged. He let go of Shana and got up. He held his hands out for her to take them and helped her up. "I have an idea."

"No, I want to stay in here." Shana planted her feet to the floor. "I'm not leaving this room."

"I'm not going to take you outside in all that." Sami pointed towards the window. "I have an idea. I'm not going to let anything hurt you."

Shana glanced outside the nearby window and shuddered at the sight outside. It could have been worse, she could have been caught in the storm on her way home. That was something she would rather not experience again.

"I know you won't." She sighed, walking over to him. "Storms just send my anxiety going."

Sami couldn't help the smile that formed on his lips. There she stood before him terrified of rain and a little thunder, but every day she got into the ring and did things that could cause serious harm. He always thought it was a little funny considering there were bigger things to be afraid of. He would never say this to her out loud though, he didn't want to make her feel bad.

"Stop laughing." Shana muttered. "What may not be scary to you is a different ballgame for me."

"I'm not laughing." He shrugged. "I'm just happy to be home with you."

With that being said, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned the flashlight on. He took Shana's hand and led her down to the end of the small hallway. He pulled the closet door open and stepped inside.

Shana wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep herself calm while Sami tinkered around with something in the closet. What they were doing there, she didn't know, but she just hoped he would hurry up so she could crawl under the covers in bed.

Sami crawled around the closet, fluffing the pillows and propping them against the wall. He laid the blankets on the floor so that they were smooth underneath them.

"It'll be just a couple of more minutes, babe. I'm sorry." He apologized.

Sami felt around the floor of the closet, in search of the tea lights Shana just had to have in the house. He never thought they would serve a purpose when she had real candles scattered all over the place, but after the last storm they had, he knew just what to use them for. He finally found them and had them placed here and there around the closet. It wasn't a lot of light, but it was enough for them to have a small glow of light.

"Sami, can we just go back to the room?"

"It'll be just a few more seconds. I'm sorry." He apologized again. "If I knew this was going to happen, I would have had everything set up better."

He could hear the panic in her voice. He reached up and pulled some clothes so that they were dangling off hangers. They wouldn't be able to close the door since their legs would be sticking out, so the hanging garments would give off the vibe that they were sequestered in a secret world where nothing can scare Shana.

"Okay, done." Sami announced, getting up to his feet. He held his phone in her direction, casting the light on her. He took Shana's hand. "I just need to go get another blanket from the bedroom, okay? I want you sit in there and get yourself comfortable. Every time you feel scared, just close your eyes and think happy thoughts until I come back."

"You want me to sit in the closet?" Shana asked, confused.

"Yes." He laughed. "Please, just do this for me. I promise you'll forget all about the storm and the power being out."

She could see how much this meant to him, so she went along with it. Just from this alone, Shana knew Sami had put a lot of thought into this. She knew he had did it all for her.

"I'll be right back." Sami said, once she had settled down.

Shana slouched down on the floor so that her head was on the pillow. She stretched her legs out, laughing for a moment when she realized they were sticking out into the hallway. She glanced around the closet, soaking in the ambience. She had to admit, this _was_ cozy.

Her eyes squeezed shut when she heard another clap of thunder. She took Sami's suggestion and closed her eyes, trying to think of something happy. Anything that would make her feel better. The day she first met Sami, their first date. When they first moved in together. Just the thought of Sami smiling was enough to make her feel better.

"I'm back, honey."

Sami crawled in next to her. He got himself as comfortable as he could and then wrapped his arm around Shana, bringing her closer to him.

"Are you asleep?"

"No." She answered, smiling. "I was just doing what you said; thinking happy thoughts."

"Yeah? Anything good?" Sami asked, grabbing the blanket and throwing it over them.

"When we first met." She replied, opening her eyes. "Our first date. How sweet this set up is. How did you come up with this idea?"

Another crash of thunder sent her cringing, a small whimper emanating from her. Sami tightened his hold on her.

"Don't think about it." He whispered.

"I'm sorry. I just can't help it." She muttered. "I don't know why I'm this scared of thunderstorms. I've been afraid since I've been a kid. Nothing ever happened to trigger this. I know its sad and in some sense dorky, but I can't help it."

"Here there are no such things as fears and thunderstorms. In here its just the two of us and it always will be just the two of us. Nothing will ever get you here."

"You're too good to me." Shana whispered, smiling up at him.

"Because I love you." He responded. He pressed a kiss on the top of her head. "You never have to worry about going through this alone."

"What do I do if you aren't here?"

"Hang out in the closet fort." Sami suggested. "When I was a kid and I was playing games, I would always hide out in the closet. Something about it always seemed safe, like nothing real or imaginative could ever get me. It was like I was untouchable to the dangers that inhibit the world. So after the last storm we had and I saw how badly you freaked out, I remembered my favorite place to hide, and decided this was something that could help calm you down."

She smiled at the image of Sami as a kid running away from some monster he had imagined in his pretend game and finding a safe escape. She couldn't help but laugh at the thought.

"What's so funny?"

"I just imagined you as a kid hiding in a closet from some monster you made up. It gave me a dorky image."

"Oh yeah?" He asked, wrapping his other arm around her waist, lightly tickling her. "Dorky image, huh?"

"Sami." She laughed, trying to wriggle away from him. "Stop." He started tickling her harder. "Stop. It."

Her laughter was music to his ears.

"Not until you apologize."

Shana had a hard time getting words out. "I have..." More laughter cut her off. "Nothing to...apologize for."

He laughed. "Fine. Give me a kiss then." Sami let up on the tickling and leaned his head down towards hers. "Come on, you know you want to."

Shana laughed and lifted her head up towards his, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "I love you. I love that you thought to do this for me. Nobody has ever been this good to me."

"You deserve it, babe." Sami replied, leaning back onto the pillow behind him.

Silence fell between them. The storm was still raging outside, but Shana had fallen into a state of calm. Her head was laying on his chest, her fingers drawing lazy circles on his stomach. He couldn't help but think back to when they first moved in together. They had had an argument about the placement of the couch. It ended with them giving up and not talking to each other until they went to bed.

"What are you thinking about?" Shana asked, breaking into his thoughts.

"When we first moved in together. I was just thinking how we argued about where in the living room we should put the couch."

"What a stupid argument." Shana laughed, looking up at him.

"Yeah." Sami agreed, laughing. "We didn't talk for the rest of the day. When we got into bed that night, we ended up just like we are right now. You snuggled up to me, you rested your head on my chest and said you loved me and knocked right out."

"I never want to go to bed angry or afraid."

"We never will."

The tea lights were starting to dim, making the closet almost completely dark like the rest of the house. The storm seemed to by dying down. It had been a while since they had heard any thundering or the howling of the wind. It seemed like there was only a light rain now.

"I think the storm is over." Sami announced, looking down at Shana.

"I think so too." She said, not hiding her relief. "But I'm too comfortable to move."

"Me too." He agreed. "We'll just spend the night in the fort."

"Mmm, I like that idea."

Sami gave her one more kiss and held her even tighter. He was happy to see her happy and that was all he ever wanted.

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A/N: They're so cute.


End file.
